


The Best Defense Is a Home

by Natsumiya_Teirin



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alive Champions (Legend of Zelda), Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, light gore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:21:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27381847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natsumiya_Teirin/pseuds/Natsumiya_Teirin
Summary: The best defence a person can have is a family that loves them. It just makes sense- it's what the stories say, and all stories have a grain of truth in them.
Relationships: Daruk & Link & Mipha & Revali & Urbosa & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link & Riju & Prince Sidon & Teba & Yunobo & Zelda, Link/?, Mipha/zelda
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	1. A Bond Stronger Than Stone

Ganon's awakening takes them all by surprise. They all knew it was coming- it was Zelda's reason for praying at the Spring of Wisdom- but they hadn't expected it to come so _soon_. 

Urbosa steels herself for the battle to come and clamps her hand on Zelda's shoulder even as she looks towards the toxic colored abomination swirling around Hyrule Castle. 

"Come. Let's get you somewhere safe." 

Zelda shakes her head and pulls away, out of her grasp. 

"No. I'm not a child anymore- even if my power hasn't awakened, and I can't do much, I _want to help you fight_." 

Mipha, Revali, and Daruk can see Link, behind Urbosa, shake his head frantically, and they can all guess why- he _is_ her personal knight, after all. 

Daruk, for all that he's not the best speaker, speaks for all of them. 

"Sorry Princess, but we can't let you on the battlefield. You can help by going with Link and Urbosa and staying safe." 

She frowns and digs her feet into the ground, the darkening miasma in the air reflecting against her deep blue eyes. 

"...let's go," Urbosa says, taking her pale hand firmly. 

"Revali. Daruk. Mipha. Come home." 

It's a sort of code, referring to the safe house they'd pitched in to buy at the edge of Hateno Village- they have a similar one in Kakariko and yet a third in Lurelin- where Urbosa and Link would hide with Zelda. "Later" refers to Lurelin while "Kicking" refers to Kakariko. 

"Naturally." Revali says with a confidence he doesn't feel. 

"Course. Can't just leave you guys hangin'!" Daruk exclaims, pumping his fist. 

"We'll be back quicker than than you can spear a fish!" Mipha assures. 

With a nod and a satisfied grunt, Urbosa scoops a scowling Zelda in her arms. 

"Don't." She warns as the blonde opens her mouth to protest. "You can scream and yell at us all you want after Link and I get you Home. But only if we're all alive for you to yell at." 

Zelda pouts and crosses her arms. Link flashes the other three Champions a grateful smile, his eyes telling them all they need to know, more than words alone ever could. 

_Be safe. You're family. Come Home._

* * *

The Champions of the Divine Beasts know their duties. 

They know they are expected to risk their lives for the sake of the greater good. For the sake of Hyrule. 

But a kingdom is nothing without its princess- not when the king is aging- and a princess is nothing without her Champions. 

Zelda is nothing without her family. She will not crumble as long as one of them survives. 

But even one Champion's death would crack her glass foundation. 

That is why they all swore that vow- to love and protect their youngest, the Princess and the Hylian Champion, in whichever way they were needed. 

And in swearing that, at a time where Zelda had nearly given up hope and Link had nearly given up faith, they became each other's family. 

Mipha stands at the helm of Vah Rutah, her own Sheikah Stone poised to control the great Beast and drown the corrupted Guardians in the waters surrounding Zora's Domain. 

Daruk perches atop Vah Rudania just above Eldin Tower, canons aimed at the approaching Guardians below. He isn't worried- Gorons are hardier than any other race in Hyrule.

Far up in the skies above the Hebra Mountain Range, Revali angles the turrets of Vah Medoh and keeps his Sheikah Stone tucked in the breast pocket of his armor. Vah Medoh will fire automatically, or so he'd been assured, but just in case, he has his bomb arrows and his Great Eagle Bow already aiming towards the propellers of a Guardian Sentry. 

Link and Urbosa alternate between carrying Zelda and fending off monsters. The Guardians have yet to approach them, but they will if they don't hurry. 

And yet, separated as they are, scattered across Hyrule and fighting different foes, they all share a common thought. 

_I will not let my new family fall!_


	2. Balm

Mipha controls Rutah, crushing corrupt Guardians beneath her feet and firing great streams of water from her trunk. The force is enough to rip them to bits and then smash them (and the accompanying monsters) against the blue-grey cliffsides of Lanayru. 

Even as she hears Ganon, far away at Hyrule Castle, Mipha has no trouble driving the Guardians back. The stairways and bridges which normally make it easier for non-Zoras to make their way to Zora's Domain are destroyed in the process, but it means the Guardians and other assorted monsters can't enter her home, either. 

The battle goes well, until it doesn't. 

Vah Rutah emits a loud sort of rumbling roar as toxic red and pink and black miasma rises into the air. It sounds wrong, and Mipha watches in horror as the dark swirls coalesce in front of her. 

They mesh together forming a base, then a torso, then arms, and finally a head with a red Lynel-mane of hair and a glowing blue eye not unlike a Guardian's. 

With a flash, a long spear glowing the same blue as Robbie's ancient tech materializes in the spectre's left hand. 

Before Mipha can even blink, it thrusts the spear forward and impales her stomach. 

It takes a moment for the pain to register. 

Burning hot agony spreads from her pierced stomach and through her torso. She feels it as her gills and lungs both clog up with her blood. 

She can't even scream. 

In her agonized haze Mipha sees her family. She sees little Sidon, left to shoulder their father's expectations on his own. She sees Link kneeling against his sword. She sees Revali, wings spread in flight only to be blown apart in a cloud of bright crimson. She sees Urbosa and Daruk, more like a mother and father than her own had been, and she sees them, eyes hard and cold and grieving. 

She sees Zelda, so much like Mipha herself, burdened by her own father's hopes and concerns but unable to live up to them, only able to defy them, so much braver than Mipha could ever hope to be. 

Mipha sees her brave spirit. She sees it shatter. 

"No..." she chokes out, her hands trembling and cold around her Sheikah Stone. 

"No..." she begs, numb fingers moving sluggishly against the screen. 

"I...won't...." she whispers, determined, as she presses against a certain icon. 

"I...won't...let...you-" 

Strands of blue swirl upwards as Mipha teleports herself to the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab.

* * *

Purah is proud of her intelligence. She is proud of her research, and she is proud of her contributions to the Hylian crown. 

She is also proud of her medical knowledge, second only to Robbie's- though he is undoubtedly fighting for his life and trying to escape Hyrule Castle himself with whatever nurses and doctors he can round up. 

Purah, like everyone else, knew Calamity Ganon was coming, so it was both unsurprising and startling when she felt the ground tremble and heard the loud roar of the terrible monster as it laid siege to the castle. 

She prepares quickly, unlocking her Guidance Stone and telling Simon to keep an eye on the travel gate out front as she clears off her work table and gets out her tools. As an afterthought, she calls Simon back in and instructs him to take the basin from the storage cabinet and fill it with water from the river. 

She takes her time setting and then starting a fire- she uses a torch to borrow from the blue flame- so she can keep the water boiling. 

The Champions will be on the front lines, so she has to be ready to treat them if they are injured in battle- if they fall, Hyrule will fall with them. 

It is a good thing she is prepared- a few hours later, after Simon returns and Purah sends him back to watching the travel gate, he bursts into the lab, cradling a heavily-bleeding, unconscious Mipha in his arms. Purah spares a moment to grieve- Simon is still young, a few years younger than Link, the youngest Champion, and he shouldn't have to see this sort of thing- and orders him to place Mipha on the table and then go back to the gate. 

She doesn't want him to see this, but she is not so arrogant as to think she can do this alone. 

With a heavy sigh, she slides on her gloves- made of a strange material she calls 'rubber'- and grabs a small bucket from beneath the table. She dips it into the large basin, filling it with the hot water. Then she takes a rag and dips that in, too, sterilizing it as best she can. 

Gently, she wipes at the blood around the injury and then drops the cloth into the bucket of water. 

Then, the real work begins.


	3. Tenderness

Urbosa, Link, and Zelda arrive at Fort Hateno at dusk. The monsters and Guardians impeded their travel, but they are mostly unhurt, save for the blistering burn on Urbosa's back and the bleeding cuts all along Link's body. 

Miraculously, there aren't any Guardians at the front gates- at least, not yet- so the three of them enter without any trouble. 

Zelda breaks away and runs towards the main building, leaving Link and Urbosa to follow at a more sedate pace. 

They find her talking with a man dressed in Sheikah garb at the entrance, gesturing with her hands. 

"-and she was grazed by a Guardian beam. I know how to heal her, of course, but without the materials, and with the roaming monsters draining my stamina, we had to wait until we came here. Therefore," she pauses to breathe and gesture towards Urbosa, who is trying not to grimace as each footstep aggravates the horrid burn on her lower back, "can you heal her, good doctor?" 

The man smiles jovially and bows his head. 

"Of course I can, Princess! In the meantime, I ask that you and yours make yourselves comfortable in one of our many beds up those stairs!" He points a finger towards a set of wooden stairs. 

Zelda rushes to Link with a smile. 

"Finally! Today has taken its toll on all of us! Come up with me, Link." 

She ascends the staircase. Link glances at Urbosa, waits for her to give a confident thumb-up, and then follows her.

* * *

In the time it takes for Purah to finish with Mipha, Simon brings Revali in, too. He is not fatally injured, but his wings are a bloody mess, and he is still conscious. Busy as she is stabilizing and repairing Mipha, Purah asks Simon to take care of him. 

His medical knowledge isn't quite on par with hers, but it's enough to sterilize and set and bandage and splint Revali's wings. There's still no guarantee he'll be able to fly again, but he'll live, and that's the important thing.

When Simon finishes, Revali grimaces, but sighs. 

"Complaining about it won't make it heal any faster," he says, looking towards where Purah is beginning to wrap a tight layer of gauze around Mipha's midsection. 

Simon follows his gaze. 

"Besides," the Rito says somewhat mulishly, " _I_ wasn't flying towards Death's roost." 

Simon hums in understanding. 

"I suppose so. Speaking of that, though, I assume if you two are here, Vah Medoh and Vah Rutah have fallen?" 

Revali nods, his brow furrowed in a deep frown.

"Yes. I don't know how it happened, but I was in full control one minute, and the next- Medoh was flying all _wrong_ and there was this...thing- it must be one of Ganon's monsters. And it just...it was _toying_ with me!" He spits. "And it nearly blew my wings right off! It was like, I suddenly couldn't feel them at all- I think it got a muscle or _something-_ but I was able to make a tactical retreat here before it could do any worse." 

He looks down as Purah transfers Mipha to Simon's bed. 

Simon himself keeps his eyes trained on her as he listens to Revali speak. 

"But...if I can't fly- if I can't even move my wings- I wonder...can I still protect my people? Can I even be called a Rito?" 

Purah huffs and goes to join them, peeling off her gloves. 

"Hmph. Don't be stupid, featherbrain. You made a wise decision, escaping when you could. It might be harder to protect your favorite people now that you're injured, but not impossible. It'd be even harder if you let that thing kill you, right?" 

Revali hesitates, thinking.

"...Right."

Purah huffs again. 

"Of course I am! Simon, go back to watching the gate! The princess sent word that she'll be here tomorrow morning with Link and Urbosa, so we just need to watch for Daruk." 

Simon nods in affirmation and heads out the door, leaving Revali and Purah alone. 

"Thank you," Revali says after a moment. Purah looks at him and follows his gaze to where Mipha is laying unconscious in Simon's bed. 

"There's no need to thank me, birdie. I'm just doing what I can for Hyrule." 

Revali keeps his gaze on Mipha, as if his stare would make her heal faster. 

"We all are..." he murmurs.


End file.
